The S&P 500 posts its worst day in more than a month, with the Dow ending 600 points lower

The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 600 points on Wednesday as investors profited from some strong January gains and a disappointing December retail sales reading raised concerns about a recession. Bank stocks led the way.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 613.89 points, or 1.81%, to 33,296.96. The S&P 500 lost 1.56% to close at 3,928.86, its lowest level since Dec. 15. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.24% to end at 10,957.01, snapping a seven-day winning streak.

“We’ve had a very strong start to the year, but now we’re in a tense earnings season and we’ve had weak data recently — retail sales and yesterday’s Empire State Manufacturing survey. And the Fed meeting on Feb. 1 is big,” BMO Wealth Management’s chief investment officer said. said strategist Yung-yu Ma. “There’s not a whole lot of reason to be aggressive here, but all the above factors suggest caution in the near term.”

JP Morgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo fell as the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to its lowest level since September. Shares of regional banks such as Geones and Fifth Third posted big losses.

Elsewhere, Microsoft announced plans About 10,000 workers were laid off, which hurt investor sentiment. Stocks tumbled, contributing to the Dow’s slide.

In economic data, investors digested the latest Retail sales The numbers showed a 1.1% fall in December, slightly more than the 1% forecast. The report suggested that consumers were cutting back on their spending, with department stores dropping 6.6% and online sales down 1.1%.

Investors also weighed in The latest reading of the producer price index, which measures firms’ input costs. The PPI showed a decline of 0.5% in December. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected a 0.1% decline.

Investors had been enjoying strong upward momentum for the stock since the start of the year, though there were many The strength of the market began to be doubted Before Wednesday’s slide. The Dow is still up 0.45% for the month, while the S&P and Nasdaq are up 2.33% and 4.69%, respectively.